Gift of Acceptance
by Sevi007
Summary: All Might has always been Shouto's favorite hero, but it's not like he could have shown it- not with Endeavor being his father. Once Izuku finds out that his friend has never even owned one piece of merchandise of the Symbol of Piece, he decides to change that.


„You never owned one?! Like, _never?!"_

"It's not that weird."

"It is. We're talking about All Might here – literally _everyone_ owns merchandise of All Might!"

Izuku was gesturing wildly, hands moving up and down and left and right at high-speed. It reminded a bit of those hand gestures Iida was especially fond of. Mixed with the utter _exasperation_ on Izuku's face, the whole scenario would have been pretty funny, would probably even have made the stoic Shouto laugh.

But since he was the source of Izuku's excitement and they were in a public place where people started looking weirdly at them, Shouto felt more like hiding his face in his hands.

 _Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that,_ the boy mused to himself, sighing with a crooked, embarrassed smile. "Midoriya, really. It's not weird at all."

Izuku opened his mouth, frowning, clearly going to argue about that, but Shouto interrupted him to finish, "Not if you take into consideration who my father is."

Izuku's already opened mouth snapped shut again, frown deepening. Instead of commenting, the young hero started tugging his bottom lip between thumb and forefinger, thinking about something.

Shouto had to bite back another sigh, but this time, it was a fond one. Leave it to Izuku to worry about something like this – something that everyone else would have thought of as petty and childish. "Midoirya…"

"Shh!" Izuku held up one hand in a gesture for him to be silent. "I'm thinking!"

"Yes, I can…" _see that,_ Shouto had wanted to say, but he decided that it would be for the better if he just waited until his friend had figured out what to do next.

Instead, he let his mismatched gaze row along the street, over the passerby walking past them as they waited in front of the store. It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, not too many people around. Shouto was grateful for that for two reasons: One, people had started to recognize him as the current number one's son and given him the kind of attention he didn't want – less people meant less attention. And two, that also meant that All Might-sensei could accompany them to do the shopping together.

The jingle of the shop's doorbell pulled Shouto from his thoughts, and he turned around just in time to see All Might stepping out of the shop.

The former hero was carrying around five or six grocery bags, all of them straining under the weight of the products they held. All Might huffed, adjusting his grip in order to get his right hand free and pull the hood deeper into his face.

After his true appearance had been revealed and he couldn't go anywhere without getting noticed, All Might had started to disguise himself with sunglasses, hoods and hats as best as he could. He still got noticed, of course. No one could overlook someone like him. But at least this way, he got _some_ privacy back… just enough to be able to accompany his students without feeling uncomfortable.

Spotting his students waiting for him, All Might smiled, holding up the bags for them to see. "I got everything, boys, we can go..."

He trailed off, frowning ever so slightly as he noted the way Izuku held himself – shoulders hunching forward, forehead wrinkled in thought, and tugging at his bottom lip while he mumbled to himself.

All Might's frown made way for an expression somewhere between amused fondness and slight exasperation, and he sighed slightly before saying, "Oh my. What are you thinking about this time, my boy?"

Izuku blinked, resurfacing from his thoughts long enough to notice his teacher returning. Instantly, a mix of emotions flickered over his expression – a wide smile, a frown, and then, a determined expression as he surged forward. "Toshinori-san, let me take some of those bags…!"

"Nonsense!" All Might took a quick step to the side, dodging Izuku's approach. "I'm not that old and fragile yet, my boy. I can still carry some grocery bags."

"You're carrying food for twenty people there. Let me help."

"There was a time when you used to listen to what I said."

"I still do – if you're not overworking yourself, that is."

Shouto watched the exchange with amusement. One of the reasons why he had taken a liking to accompanying Izuku and All Might for simple things like shopping were those moments when the two of them completely forgot everything around them and fell into a routine of talking, joking and laughing together that seemed just so natural.

Sometimes Shouto actually wondered if Izuku had lied to him about All Might not being his father. Then again, Izuku would never lie to him, so he pushed that thought aside as quickly as it had come.

He had spaced out too long, he realized once he looked up. Because Izuku was already whispering something to All Might. The former hero was leaning down ever in order to listen closely to his student, frowning slightly.

Shouto knew what they were talking about once the blue gaze of his teacher snapped towards him. Almost groaning, he protested, "Midoriya, really, don't…"

Just then, All Might straightened, allowing Izuku to free him from some of the groceries while he spoke, "Young Todoroki… what would you say if we took a little detour?"

Knowing what was to come and not feeling comfortable with it, Shouto wanted to protest. He didn't want to hold them up just so that they could buy him some silly, childish merchandise…

(It didn't matter that a part of him was delighted at the mere thought of it.)

But something about the way Izuku beamed at him and All Might's lips quirked upwards ever so slightly made it impossible to No say to the two of them.

"…Okay," Shouto muttered, insecure of what to expect.

He couldn't help but relax slightly, though, when Izuku pumped his fist into the air in victory and All Might's smile grew into a grin.

Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How about this one?"

Shouto eyed the All Might-action figure Izuku held up, shrugging a tad helplessly. "I'm not sure. Perhaps?"

Izuku blinked, surprised, before chuckling. "You're really not used to buying things for yourself, huh?"

"Not really," Shouto confessed.

It felt good, saying out loud that he was insecure and unused to certain things. He knew that neither Izuku nor All Might would judge him or get annoyed because of it.

"Not an action figure then," Izuku mused, putting the figure back where he had found it, wandering off to look for something else. "Something more useful perhaps?"

"Yes," Shouto agreed, feeling slightly relieved. Something useful would make this easier. At least then he could excuse it, could tell himself that he needed it.

Part of him was still shocked that he even _dared_ to think about buying All Might merchandise, of all things. His father would get so angry at him…

But the other part, growing stronger, reminded him that his father wasn't here. And even if he was, it was none of his business.

"Huh. They got new ones," All Might lifted a keychain in the form of a grinning All Might-face up, holding it the sunlight to check out the glittering effects dancing over the smile made of metal and plastic. "I don't have this one yet."

"Not yet?" Izuku's head snapped around from where he had been searching through a basket of little things like pens and erasers, all of them themed in different heroes' special styles. The boy stared at the former hero as if he had just grown a second head. "You mean you own some of your merchandise?"

By the way All Might's shoulders stiffened slightly, Shouto could tell that their teacher regretted saying anything.

But the man was simply too polite to just ignore his student, so he murmured, "Only _a few._ There are some really well-done pieces..."

Izuku's eyes went even larger, surprise making way for excitement. "You have a collection, then?"

"Hm-hm," All Might grimaced, shrugged, shook his head and nodded all at the same time. He didn't seem to sure how to answer, nearly squirming in embarrassment.

"Can I see it?" Izuku was basically _vibrating_ in excitement by now, wide smile splitting his features, hopefully looking up at his mentor.

That hopeful look, surprisingly enough, actually seemed to calm All Might, since he relaxed considerably and chuckled. Putting the keychain back and patting Izuku's head lightly, he promised, "I will show you once we're back."

Shouto had to bite back a laugh himself as Izuku basically _skipped_ with every step after that, humming to himself.

All Might shook his head as soon as Izuku had wandered down the row of shelves and was out of earshot. "What a fanboy, really."

He shot Shouto a quick grin, reaching out to ruffle the two-colored hair gently. "Go on, take another look. It would be a miracle if we wouldn't be able to find something in here."

"Okay," huffing with an amused twitch of his lips, Shouto patted his hair back down and continued his journey through the store.

All Might was right: It would really be a miracle if they didn't find something suitable here. There were rows after rows of shelves filling the vast space, baskets and tables in between them – and everything was laden with merchandise of different heroes. Action figures, posters, clothes, toys – there was just everything available, the heroes represented ranging from the young newcomers like Kamui Woods up to Endeavor, the current number one. (Though Shouto took note of the fact that there was considerably less merchandise for the flame hero than for any other hero.)

But of course, most of the space was taken up with All Might-merchandise. And that was good, since that sort of merchandise was exactly what they were looking for.

If only the decision could be a little bit easier…

Frowning in disgruntled irritation at himself, Shouto tried to think about what he really wanted. Not toys, since he obviously wouldn't play with them. Not something that would be used up at some point, like a pen or an eraser would be, since he wanted to keep this present for as long as possible. Posters seemed a bit… not enough, though…

As he wandered down another row, his gaze landed on one of the shelves, and Shouto stopped walking altogether. There, between the distinct colors of blue, red, white and yellow, there was one article that caught his interest.

Gingerly taking the piece of merchandise and holding it up, Shouto tried to imagine owning the piece. Showing it to the others. Showing it off in general.

And he found that he really, really liked the thought.

"That one."

His simple, but firm statement surprised himself a bit, but then again, he really was sure about this.

It would be this piece, or nothing.

"Huh?" Izuku was instantly next to him, leaning around him in order to try and get a look at what Shouto was holding in his hands. "That one? You sure?"

"Yes," Shouto nodded, pressing his finding to his chest. "I want this one."

The shadow falling over them reminded him that All Might was still right beside them, and that he was the one who would pay for the piece.

Turning, Shouto offered the merchandise to his teacher, "Can I have this one, please?"

It was usually difficult to read All Might's expression beneath the hood and the sunglasses, but this time, the wide smile was unmistakable, as was the warmth in his voice. "We _did_ say that we would get you everything you wanted, right?"

Shouto's answering smile was wide and shining.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somehow, the two boys had managed to wrestle some of the shopping bags from All Might's grip when the man had tried to carry everything alone from the car to the dorms.

All Might had protested and grumbled, but finally, he had relented with a dramatic sigh.

So both Izuku and Shouto were carrying two bags full with groceries as they stepped into the hallway, holding the door open for their teacher.

Shouto had even dared to swing his bag slightly, like Izuku did in his good mood. He held himself straighter as he entered the dorms, almost too aware of what the others would see once they spotted him.

It would be okay. It was nothing big…

(And yet, somehow it was.)

"We're back!" Izuku called once the door had fallen closed behind them.

Instantly, several calls of "Welcome back!" and "Finally!" resounded from the living room.

Moments later, Uraraka appeared in the door to the living room, her expression lighting up as she saw them. "There you are! We already wondered what took you so long!"

"We took a little detour," shifting slightly, All Might rested one hand between Shouto's shoulder blades, pushing him forwards ever so gently.

The little movement caught Uraraka's attention, and her gaze swept over Shouto – stopping as she took in the sight he made.

Her mouth fell slightly open into an "O" and she blinked rapidly in surprise.

Before she found her voice again, though, Mina appeared next to her, chattering on instantly, "Whew, we already thought you had run into a villain or… something…"

She trailed off, expression morphing into the same look of pure surprise Uraraka had.

Shouto almost squirmed under the close scrutiny he got. Was that a bad sign? Usually, his classmates didn't hold back when it came to saying what they had on their mind, so the silence was almost unsettling…

"Nice T-shirt, Todo-chan!" Mina broke the silence, beaming at him. Speaking louder, she called over her shoulder, "Guys, come take a look! Todo-chan has a cool new shirt!"

"Eh, really?" Kirishima's voice could be heard. "Wait up, let me see!"

There it was, the first reaction. Even better than he had hoped.

Shouto had a hard time not to glow under the praise, perhaps straightening just a little bit. "Thanks."

Next to him, Izuku grinned widely, giving him a thumbs-up, mouthing _Told you!_

Chuckling, Shouto elbowed him ever so slightly in the rips, feeling light-headed and almost ready to burst with happiness.

It was just a shirt, he tried to remind himself. Just a normal T-Shirt.

Except that it wasn't. It was a T-Shirt in blue, with red and white stripes decorating the short sleeves and the chest area, reminding of a certain hero's outfit. It also had a big _#1_ written on the back, a smaller _All Might fanboy_ below it.

And it was all his.

It was just a T-Shirt, but it was probably the best gift Shouto had ever received.

A tap to his shoulder brought Shouto back to reality, and he looked up just in time to see All Might pass by him, aiming for the kitchen to put the groceries away.

The blue eyes in the man's deep eye sockets were twinkling, and the former hero smiled at Shouto once he caught his gaze.

Shouto smiled back, less obvious, but just as warm. Checking that no one was looking right then, he mouthed _Thank you_ in All Might's direction.

"Let me see!" Excited hands grabbed him by his shoulders before he could catch his teacher's answer, and he was turned around left and right by Kirishima. After a moment, the red-head whistled through his teeth once he spotted the slogan on the back. "Nice one! Hey, Bakugou, take a look at this!"

"Hm," the explosive tempered boy sauntered out of the living room to have a look for himself. Red eyes swept up and down Shouto's frame, before Bakugou shrugged. "Could have been worse."

"That's a compliment, coming from you," Kirishima laughed and ducked away from the dark glance his friend shot him then.

"It's not, Hair for Brain."

"Yes, yes, I know," Kirishima waited until Bakugou had turned to take one of the two bags All Might was still carrying before he leaned over towards Shouto and whispered, "It totally was."

"It really suits you, Todoroki-kun!" Uraraka chimed in, beaming at him encouragingly.

Shouto couldn't stop the smile that bloomed on his face then and there, feeling warmth spread through his chest as his friends gathered around him. "Thank you."

His gaze found Izuku's, and he put some more emphasis on it, "All of you."

Green eyes lit up in understanding, and Izuku grinned at him. "Not that for."

They smiled, understanding each other without words.

And somehow, Shouto didn't regret anymore that he had mentioned his lack of merchandise to Izuku.


End file.
